Considering using Olympus USA repair? 🙁

James Pilcher wrote:

Thank you all for your comments.

The way I look at it, I was given a price of $76.69 after Olympus examined the camera. I accepted and paid by phone with a live person on the other end of the line. I confirmed the amount with that person, and saw the charge show up on my credit card account. The very next day, everything is different.

Olympus has my initial approval, payment, and camera in hand but now will not do the repair unless I hand over a lot more money. That is extortion, pure and simple.

Jim Pilcher
Summit County, Colorado, USA
Living above life in the Rocky Mountains

Camera problem was assessed, were quoted, you paid and card was charged. That is a contract. I suspect that this confusion will easily be resolved when you call. I start by being courteous and assume there was some mistake in their last email. If no satisfaction then demand to speak to a manager. Do not relent. Once they accepted your money you money you had a deal, even if the first person misquoted you.

As a side note I have used the NJ facility once for a warranty repair of my EM1 rear dial, no issues - but they would not start repair until I showed them my receipt. That was June 2017

Keep us posted.

Jim,

If I were you I would file a dispute with your credit card company once you get the statement with this charge. Explain that you paid an agreed-upon amount, and expected your camera to be returned, then were told you couldn't get it back without paying more.

At a minimum it will require Olympus to do some research into the issue. It could lead to a discount.

I'm sorry to hear of this hassle.

For the record, all of my repair problems have been from Panasonic (McAllen facility).

James Pilcher wrote:

Olympus ignored my email response from Friday. Wanting to move this forward, I called a few minutes ago. If I want my camera fixed, I must pay a final total of $173.51, per my conversation on the phone with Olympus a few moments ago.

What makes this curious is that I was told that the technician "discovered" that my EVF is not working!!!!! The tech must dismantle the camera to replace necessary part(s) and effect the repair. The thing is, MY EVF WAS FINE WHEN I SHIPPED THE CAMERA. My repair request has nothing to do with the EVF. In three years of ownership, the EVF has never given me any problems. Now, after authorizing $76.69 on Thursday, suddenly my Pen F EVF no longer works and on Friday I have a $173.51 repair bill. I'll let you draw your own conclusion.

By the way, my request was to replace a defective battery door and provide a minor cosmetic repair. The camera worked fine otherwise. I see now that I should have employed a rubber band and called it a day.

And yes, for you sharp-eyed individuals, the repair quote, in writing through email, on Friday was $173.24. I have no idea how today it comes to $173.51; that additional $0.27 must be important to Olympus. I authorized the final total, otherwise Olympus was going to ship back a bricked camera AND charge me return shipping.

Olympus has lost me as a future customer. I'll keep my µ4/3 kit, but instead of looking at Olympus to keep my gear fresh in the future, I think I'll dip my toes into a second system and give a basic FF body a try. That's unfortunate for Olympus, who has had my business since 1973 with the original OM-1.

Thanks for your interest. I'm done talking about this unless the camera is returned to me improperly serviced. Unfortunately, I think the likelihood of that is rather substantial.

Jim Pilcher
Summit County, Colorado, USA
Living above life in the Rocky Mountains

Jim, if I were you, I would contact Olympus America and Olympus Japan, detailing the issues you have had.

This sort of corporate behaviour is not acceptable, even if from an associated entity.

James Pilcher wrote:

1. Walt Palmer wrote:

That sucks, Jim!!

What did they say when you told them you had already paid for the repair?

The Pen-F is such a well-crafted piece of technology, it's a shame to have bureaucracy mess it up so badly.

I tried calling Olympus about this today. The web site and emails to me indicate 9:00 am to 9:00 pm hours, Eastern Time. I called at 5:00 PM Mountain today (7:00 pm Eastern) and I got a message that I have called outside of Olympus business hours of 9:00 am to 5:30 pm.

So I’m left with another 2-1/2 days before I can even begin to address this. Kudos to Olympus.

Jim Pilcher
Summit County, Colorado, USA
Living above life in the Rocky Mountains

I don't think I've made much of a secret about it, but I have not been impressed with Olympus America support at all. Your experience is not at all surprising to me.

James Pilcher wrote:

JaKing wrote:

Jim, if I were you, I would contact Olympus America and Olympus Japan, detailing the issues you have had.

This sort of corporate behaviour is not acceptable, even if from an associated entity.

I’ll see what I can dig up as mailing addresses and company heads. I’ll send a polite certified letter to each.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Jim Pilcher
Summit County, Colorado, USA
Living above life in the Rocky Mountains

This is the contact form you want for Olympus Japan.

James Pilcher wrote:

I post this as a public service to all Olympus owners in the USA...

I sent my Pen F in for repair some days ago. On Thursday I received a quote of $77 via email from the repair facility. I called and authorized the repair, gave my credit card info, and was told all is good and to expect my camera to be returned in 7-10 business days.

TODAY, Friday, I received another email from Olympus. The cost of repair is quoted at $173. There is no mention of yesterday’s quote and $77 payment. I’m now told the repair is on hold until I authorize the $173. ?????????

EVERY encounter I’ve had with Olympus USA repair since 2011 progresses like this one is shaping up. After several trips to the repair facility in 2011, they could not fix my E-5 and ended up refunding my money for that camera just to shut me up on this forum. I then dealt with dial problems on two Pen E-P5 bodies few years ago. One body went in twice for dial issues, and came back twice with no fix. Olympus replaced that body and it went sour within six months.

You buy Olympus and you take great risk.

Jim Pilcher
Summit County, Colorado, USA
Living above life in the Rocky Mountains

Gee. I hadn’t used Olympus repair since the E-1.

I would contact Japan as well.

Smash the camera with a hammer in protest. Post the video on YouTube.

Long time no see.  Sorry to hear you're still having trouble with Olympus bodies.  Reminds me of one of our friends (windsprite) who used to take pictures of dogs and had some repeated problems with Olympus bodies.  My luck has been a little better.  I've only had problems with one body, an E-3, and Olympus resolved the issue by just sending me a new camera.  No other lens or body problems ever.

Contacting the management is a good idea, too.

If they don't correct this then at least you can let your credit card company known of your efforts to resolve this.

Personally, I'd let the corporate management know you want a full refund and compensation for your time. You shouldn't have to go through this hassle/waste of your time just to get information.

I dropped you a DM

I sent the original DM to John King. Now sent to you

What was the cost to repair dented lense frame for Olympus OMD M1?